Santa Maria-Bonita School District, a district of 17,500 students located an hour north of Santa Barbara, recently partnered with ACSA to provide clear credentialing to its new administrators through ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program.

Director of School Support Niccole Wiseman liked ACSA’s program because of the job-embedded coaches — highly trained administrators who guide new leaders toward reaching the district’s goals. But then the district had a bold idea: What if all the district’s leaders were trained to be coaches?

“When we started to really dig into the logistics of partnering with ACSA, right away the thing we saw was that it would benefit our entire system, not just our coaches and candidates,” Wiseman said. “The option to do the coaching training with all of our leaders would positively impact our system and the way that we communicate with our staff and our educational partners.”

Santa Maria Bonita USD is now in the process of having all of its leaders complete ACSA Leadership Coaching.

While this training is required for anyone who wants to become a coach in ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program, it is also beneficial for any school leader who coaches administrators, teachers or staff.

Leadership coaching is about promoting a growth-fostering relationship between the coach and the leader to bring about transformational change. The program uses the Evocative Coaching model, which was developed by Bob and Megan Tschannen-Moran. Evocative Coaching uses a person-centered, no fault, strengths-based approach to move people toward their desired destination.

When coaches trust and practice the four movements in Evocative Coaching, they increase their ability to make significant contributions to the professional development of teachers and leaders, and to the learning climate of schools.

Santa Maria Bonita USD believes that every member of the school community — including the superintendent, administrators, teachers, classified staff and students — seek and strive for growth. Through coaching, the district can support that growth on all levels and keep everyone focused on what matters most: preparing students who are ready for college and careers.

“We took a stance that our system believes in coaching at all levels, and the Evocative Coaching model through ACSA Leadership Coaching provides a common language to our system,” Wiseman said. “We know and we believe that coaching makes a difference in the way you interact with staff. Doing more listening, asking, reflecting — all of those are tools that our administrators can use to build the self-efficacy of our staff and their capacity.”

Whether they complete ACSA Leadership Coaching or go on to become an ACSA-certified coach, those who take this training are providing a service to the next generation of administrators while growing themselves as leaders.

Executive Director of Contra Costa SELPA MaryAnn Frates has been an administrator for 16 years, but ACSA Leadership Coaching was the first time she ever received training on coaching.

“I thought it was a great way to help newer people coming up through the field,” she said, adding that there’s a shortage of special education administrators to serve as coaches in the program.

Frates completed her training this school year and is currently coaching two candidates in ACSA’s Clear Administrative Credential Program who are entering special education administration.

Because she works with candidates outside of the districts she serves in Contra Costa SELPA, she likes how coaching allows for the cross-pollination of ideas from leaders in other LEAs.

“It’s also been a great reminder that we can all do things very differently, and that’s OK,” she said. “There are different ways to do things to still meet the needs of the students.”

Just when she thought she had seen it all after 16 years in special education, Frates says she is enjoying learning new things from the candidates she is coaching in the program.

“I think a big incentive for wanting to do it is to stay current and see things through the eyes of a new administrator,” she said. “It gives me a different perspective and I think makes me better at my job.”

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